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Sunday, 10 November 2019

Spot the errors - yes or no?

http://translation-traduccion.com/errores-comunes-espanol
Last weekend I received via email a link to this article from Teachwire.  The image used in the email was this one, to illustrate a "find the errors" activity:


Over my 25 years in this teaching game I've been told not to do activities like this, as students will see and remember the incorrect words and not the correct ones.  I put out a tweet to gauge current thinking:


Steve Smith put more clearly than I could the main issue with this kind of activity:


My main issue with doing activities of this kind has been ensuring that all students record and correct all errors so that there is no incorrect language in their book, as you could bet your bottom dollar those would be the examples they chose to use later on as a model.  Ms Pickering on Twitter describes a way around this:


I do really like the activity because of the analysis of the language and the learning conversations that it generates.  I think Steve's point of only using well-practiced language is very valid.

Vincent Everett shared an example of a proof-reading activity, where students are finding errors but always have a correct version of the text available:


So: Spot the errors - yes or no?  What do you think?  Do you know of any research for or against it?  I look forward to your comments.


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